Welcome To the Indy Democrat Blog

Friday, November 9, 2012

Gregg Closed Gap in Last Month

Gregg's Great Effort May Open Doors

Mike Pence will be Indiana’s Governor for the next four years, and he should be congratulated for a strong campaign, but the ticket of John Gregg and Vi Simpson, in the last month, went from being remembered as the latest Democrats to lose a gubernatorial race to nearly getting pulling off an upset.

This race was closer than any of the polls thought it would be except the Gregg campaign’s own internal polls. Those polls that came out a couple of weeks ago had this at a three point race. They were roundly laughed at and criticized by Abdul-Hakim Shabazz who continued to insist the margin was wider. Turns out that it was but just a little wider.

It was close, just four percentage points, 50-46 percent. It’s the kind of run that keeps John Gregg in the conversation as a statewide candidate in 2016 again. It also allows us to wonder. With a couple of more weeks in this campaign cycle, who knows?

What if the bulldog that John Gregg became at the end of this race had appeared in a bigger way earlier in the race? What if, instead of taking this race to Sandborn to start with, we had met John Gregg as the former evenly-divided Indiana House Speaker and former Vincennes University President at the start of the campaign instead of at the end? What if John Gregg had gotten Mike Pence off his game early on in this campaign instead of in the last few weeks and days?

We will never know these answers, and it’s easy to have 20/20 hindsight now. Compared to other statewide Republicans on the ballot that won election and even Mitt Romney, Hoosiers showed that they have a healthy concern about Mike Pence, and that came from somewhere. It most certainly was raised by John Gregg.

Vi Simpson

I sure hope Gregg stays involved in the process and doesn’t decide to go back to his quiet farm in Sandborn. Despite being outspent mightily, Gregg really showed that he could make a dent in the perfectly coiffed Pence's master plan. Perhaps in 2016, he might take another bite at the apple for Governor or even Senate against Dan Coats. I also think he'd be a perfect foil for a House run in the Bloody 8th. Perhaps Gregg isn't interested in going to "Warshington", though. He's much more Warshington, Indiana than Washington, D.C.

We need personalities in politics, and folks like Vi Simpson and John Gregg just don’t come around too often. I know that Indiana politics is more interesting when Mr. Gregg is involved in the game, and I can’t wait to hear what Vi Simpson will do next.

And no, I didn't leave out Rupert. Rupert Boneham grew during this campaign as a candidate, and I think he's going to stay involved in the process. He took home four percent of the vote. It was a very good showing. Congratulations to Rupert and the Indiana Libertarian Party.

Indiana Dems need to start recruiting House and Senate candidates now for '14. I hope Vi and Peggy Welch will get back into the fray. I also think Gregg would be a great choice to the Carpetbagger, Obstructionist Coates.